HETL 2013 in Orlando!

I’m in Orlando again…at another conference-do you see a trend of conferences in a sunny region? I’m excited to be here presenting with a colleague, fellow online faculty member Miranda Dyer. She and I have been working on the Live Lecture initiative at Rasmussen for over a year now, so it’s great to be finally meeting in person. She offers a great faculty perspective on how these synchronous sessions have dramatically improved her students’ engagement in the course, as well as their performance and retention in some cases. We start bright and early at 8am on Monday.

Improving Online Student Engagement through Synchronous Learning Sessions Using a College-wide Lecture Series Approach from Heather Zink

I wanted to share our slide deck in case you were interested in the most recent data from our Fall courses. I’ve talked about this project before in past posts, so I don’t know that I need to go into detail here. A quick summary though — we are requiring online students in a select group of Q1/Q2 courses to attending a weekly live class session using a virtual classroom tool (we’ve finally moved everyone to Adobe Connect!! Woohoo!!). The students interact with other students across the College in the same online class, as well as a variety of faculty teaching sessions throughout the week. We offer a variety of session times for students to pick from, as they are online students with busy schedules. You’d be surprised though at how many students attend a Friday or Saturday night class session, even Wednesday and Friday lunch hour sessions!

As we’ve passed the one year mark on offering these sessions, it’s time to step it up in regards to the activities in the sessions. My goals for 2013 are to push the faculty to offer more case study discussions, create breakout room sessions where students teach each other, add more faculty to our pool of ‘lecturers’, find creative ways to integrate more student-led discussions, and final change the name “Live Lectures” to Live Virtual Classrooms (or something similar, I just can’t decide). We are in a good place, but there are always room for improvements.

I’m excited for a fun-filled day of learning tomorrow — I look forward to making new connections and hopefully find time to reflect and share my findings here! Oh, I actually had a great experience at the Opening Keynote tonight — Eric Mazur filled both a physical and virtual room (we were in an overflow conference room because of the capacity of the auditorium) with great energy on his work surrounding a peer instruction model. I’m excited to read more on his findings and test these ideas out with our Live Lecture folks. Tomorrow looks to be just as engaging!

Sloan-C: Student Success & Engagement with Virtual Synchronous Learning Sessions Using a College-wide Lecture Series Approach

It’s Day 2 of the Sloan-C International Online Conference and it’s been a great experience so far. I’m meeting so many great folks interested in learning more about our live lecture project and the types of activities we add to the sessions to engage the students. This morning I presented with our VP of Academic Innovation, Greta Ferkel, to a group of about 20 online learning professionals. I’ve added our slides below — please feel free to comment on the presentation or use the slides as you see fit.

Ll series sloan_12 from Heather Zink

The themes emerging from both keynotes and information sessions are access, affordability, quality, and educational attainment. These are themes I’ll take back to my work to improve our hybrid delivery offerings at Rasmussen. It seems that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) are the buzz word this week. After hearing from Sebastian Thrun this morning from Udacity, I can see the huge value and opportunity for a global course offering. I look forward to the remainder of the conference and seeing the remaining presentations.

Improving Online Student Engagement through Synchronous Learning Sessions

Do you see a trend in the last few posts?

I’m talking to a lot of folks about the required synchronous learning sessions we’re doing at Rasmussen. They have been highly successful in improving student success in Q1/Q2 higher volume classes. Being able to bring online students together in a virtual classroom experience provides them a unique opportunity to make connections with each other and with faculty teaching the course.

I’m talking with the faculty at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts on Thursday in how they can use virtual class sessions to connect with their own students. I’m again using the blog to share the information with this group. I’ll be presenting using their Adobe Connect platform, with it actually being only my second time using this platform as a presenter. I have the most experience using Wimba Live Classroom, but I’m enjoying the evaluation of other tools to suit course-specific needs. Adobe has a great set of interaction tools, really robust and sophisticated technology, in my opinion (though I’m only a microbiologist turned teacher turned teacher of teachers — so don’t quote that or anything).

In the presentation, I’m using a deck of PowerPoint slides — linked here through SlideShare, and displayed below.

Improving Online Student Engagement through Synchronous Learning Sessions

View more PowerPoint from Heather Zink

I’m also sharing a few weblinks related directly to the presentation, helping the faculty to understand the variety of learning activities & opportunities available while in a virtual synchronous session. The weblinks are included below:

• M120 Spring LL Archive Module 08 http://www.screencast.com/t/1ALus6ZwYi
• UW Pronunciation Practice http://www.wisc-online.com/Objects/ViewObject.aspx?ID=gen504
• LibGuide Undergraduate Research http://guides.rasmussen.edu/content.php?pid=238384&sid=1967146
• LibGuide LLC Webinar Series http://guides.rasmussen.edu/content.php?pid=272694&sid=2292388

I hope that the faculty will enjoy the presentation and consider adding some of the elements I shared into their own virtual presentations with students. One more link to the video podcast I created for students in my Medical Terminology course last term — M120 Video Podcast — these are the archived versions of our live lectures each week. Students can subscribe to the feed and get new episodes downloaded to the mobile device every week — they can take me with them! I know most are not as excited about that as me, but podcasting is one of the greatest learning tools for online students. More on that in future posts….

Have a fantastic day!!

Spring 2012 Faculty Development Week: Live Lecture Training

This quarter I’m serving more as a presenter during our week of faculty development as opposed to a participant. I have frequently presented sessions in the past, but this quarter there is a specific purpose and goal behind my presentations — to prepare online faculty to deliver engaging and interactive live lecture presentations to students during the Summer 2012 Live Lecture Series. We are currently running the required live lecture component in 8 high enrollment courses and looking to grow this each quarter. With a solid plan in place for summer, I’m excited for the quarter to begin next week.

I thought it was best to share my presentation materials here, in addition to archived presentations once they are available. Faculty can return to the presentation for reference at any point, in addition to download the slides for quick reference as they create their own live sessions.

Wimba 1.0: Basic Training for Engaging Participants in the Wimba Live Classroom slides here

Wimba 2.0: Creating Content to Engage Students in Wimba Live Classroom slides here

As I transition into my new role as the Hybrid Classroom Manager, I get excited at the potential for flexible learning environments within our courses. We have a lot of great innovative teaching practices already infused within the Rasmussen culture, I’m proud to work with our faculty and spread these intitiatives throughout the system. Feel free to leave me any comments or feedback on the presentations in response to this post.

Enjoy the week!!

Hybrid Classroom Delivery

I was asked by CollegeOnline to speak about my thoughts on the future of online learning and ideas surrounding the hybrid classroom. It was a pleasure to offer up my experiences so far and where I think it’s heading. I’m excited to see hybrid learning models become the norm and more traditional route for new program offerings. With more and more individuals entering the higher education system, we need an approach to accommodate a variety of learning and scheduling needs. We can create engaging, interactive course material in the asynchronous environment, but faculty and students need to come together regularly to make that material come alive and bridge the communication gap that sometimes results in the world of online education. The ‘flipped classroom’ will continue to grow and I think we will see more colleges and universities move to increase their online offerings through lecture capture technology. This allows for students across the country and the world collaborate and learn from one another. It’s an exciting time in the world of online education and higher education, I’m thrilled to be a part of it!

Ah, and my last tidbits included my two favorite pieces of equipment — a headset and webcam, two things a great online faculty member can’t live without!

Where do you see hybrid learning going? What are you currently working on at your institution to reach online students more effectively? I love to bounce ideas off colleagues. Let’s chat!

Pearson Learning Summit

I returned on Friday from the Pearson Learning Summit in Phoenix, AZ. It was a great 2 days of networking, idea sharing, and higher education professionals working hard to provide the best opportunities for their students. I love being around a group of enthusiastic people ready to work. I connected with several faculty from other private colleges and universities, we share a common goal to educate a similar type of student and were able to discuss challenges and successes with these students.

I presented, with my colleague, Shawn Ulwelling, on a live lecture series approach to increasing online student engagement. Through a weekly online lecture series (same lecture offered 25 times a week for 650 students), a required synchronous learning session was added to online Medical Terminology courses at Rasmussen. We noticed an increase in student success through improvements in course averages and higher retention. The presentation focused on student feedback, methods used to create this learning opportunity, strategies for implementation, and plans for expansion.

At Rasmussen College, we are providing opportunities for our online students to attend synchronous learning sessions on a weekly basis in a few of our Q1/Q2 courses. As a new thought in our online programs, requiring the students to attend a synchronous class session, in addition to awarding credit for attendance, offers them an opportunity to interact with various faculty teaching the course, as well as their classmates from across the system. We are using a lecture series approach by offering a group of sessions throughout the week taught by highly qualified Rasmussen faculty. Students are able to select a time that best suits their schedule, as sessions are offered 7 days a week, morning, afternoon and evening.

This initiative started with Medical Terminology and Computer Applications, as high enrollment courses with varying success rates for students. With the great success of these two projects, we are now rolling out the required live lecture component to other courses in a two-phased approach. The goal is to pilot the project in a small sample of sections within a given course, and then, as we learn the best methods for instruction and further design an engaging live lecture, we’ll then roll out the lectures to the entire group of sections.

The success thus far is demonstrated by an improvement in student retention and student success rates in these courses. The response from students attending the sessions has been extremely positive as well. They use words like ‘interaction’ and ‘engagement’ to describe the experience. They are finding value in the live lecture through discussions with classmates and enhanced instructional opportunities with faculty teaching the course. The ability to have questions answered and receive guided instruction on specific assignments and course material provides them the tools they need to be successful when working independently on their coursework.  As one of the faculty delivering live lectures and leading the initiative across the College, I get a lot of questions about whether or not these live lectures are offered in other online courses. There is a desire amongst the online student population for live interaction and Rasmussen is working to increase those opportunities for students.

A ‘blended learning’ approach to course delivery is becoming more mainstream now in higher education as opposed to a new idea. Varying learning opportunities for students, especially those in the online modality, will keep them engaged in the course and improve their retention and attrition, as well as their overall satisfaction with their education experience. I shared materials for creating an initial plan to utilize this blended learning approach in one of their online courses with varying success rates.

Attached are links to the materials from the session shared using SlideShare.Net —

• Pearson Presentation
• Live Lecture Action Plan

Feel free to use and adapt these materials to suit your needs. I just ask that you share how the process works for you, I’d love to learn what you are having success with.

Any other conferences coming up that you’ve attended in the past? I’m looking to learn more about how hybrid learning strategies are working for others and the types of strategies they are working through.

Until next time, have a great week — May Day is tomorrow!

~Heather

Online Learning Today: where do I fit in? (#edumooc)

As I get acquainted with the eduMOOC process, I am still feeling a bit consumed by the process of it all. I thought starting the course in between quarters of teaching would be the best option, as I would have extra time to devote to it. I have, however, found myself consumed with setting up my courses for instruction this term and enjoying my vacation – 5 days at East Harbor State Park on Lake Erie with my husband and children. I’ve kept up with the Twitterfeed and read through several blog posts, but I don’t feel quite organized yet. I’m trying to give myself a break as this is my first MOOC experience, but that’s not an easy task for an overachieving, type-A like myself. I’m working on it though.

I did, however, decide on how I would reflect on the Week 1 topic: Online Learning Today. Talking about where I fit into the grand scheme of online learning today will provide me with a starting point for where to head next as we dive into Week 2: What the Research Tells Us. I’ll be able to apply this research, hopefully, to my current position.

I’ve been teaching online courses for almost 4 years now and…to be completely honest…despised it in the beginning. I thought “why in the world would I want to take an online course or teach one when I can have a more connected experience in a face-to-face classroom?” Boy, how that opinion has evolved.

As I moved states with my husband’s job, I was forced into teaching online as a way to stay in the working world and be a mother at the same time. I poured myself into learning everything I could about how to connect with students through a variety of channels online and began experimenting with several different communication strategies. I’ve had great success with podcasts, Twitter, video messaging, and live virtual classes. My teaching has definitely evolved over the past several years, but one thing remains constant – I want to connect with each student.

I’ve learned that students, depending on their background, life experience, or generation, desire a different type of communication in the online environment. I’ve attempted to reach students in a variety of mediums to meet their individual needs. At first I complicated the learning process in my class by adding too many technologies and offering too many options. I realized quickly that this was way too much work for me without providing a significant benefit to the students. Too many options caused them to be overwhelmed and complicated the course content and my teaching efforts tremendously. For the upcoming quarter, I’ll be going back to the “basics”, as I’m referring to it.

I have tried to transform my course management system into something it’s not. It’s not fancy or social, it wasn’t designed for Twitter widgets, a variety of video or images, or even instant messaging. I’m trying to simplify things this quarter and focusing solely on how best to deliver the course content and assess student learning, as opposed to using the latest and greatest technologies. If I’m using a specific application or piece of technology, like Twitter, there is an organized purpose. If I’m embedding a video clip, I’ll map it to weekly objectives and provide students with a synopsis of why it relates to their learning and its importance for the week. Each week will have both an audio-visual component accompanied by text-based materials discussing the same information. I want to hit all the senses – this will provide the ‘options’ for the student.

During a week-long professional development conference organized by the College, I reviewed an archived presentation by a colleague, Valerie Connor, and her husband, Martin Connor, discussing student-centered teaching across the generational divide. I found it amazingly eye-opening as they connected the various applications used today to communicate with students with the different generations that populate our education system. They discussed why Baby Boomers might prefer Skype as opposed to the Millenials preference for Twitter or Facebook. They also mentioned how GenXers would enjoy a Screenr video as opposed to the GenYers desire for something like Meebo. It was a thorough presentation with great tips and application strategies, the archive is well-worth 40 minutes of an online educator’s time. These strategies have helped me to organize my courses for summer quarter a bit more according to the population of students I’m working with.

While still overwhelmed in the eduMOOC process, I’ve connected with several individuals in the blogosphere and expanded my circle of educator colleagues. I’ll report the first week as an unorganized success! The goals for the weekend and into Week 2 are as follows:

• Link eduMOOC materials and colleagues to this blog.
• Add my ‘favorite’ readings from Week 1 to Diigo.
• Introduce myself in the Google Group.
• Attend the live discussion on Thursday.
• Engage in the MOOC readings for 15-20 minutes each day.
• Reflect on what I’ve learned using this blog, hopefully twice in a week.

That looks like a lofty list for the first week of a new quarter with close to 120 new students distributed across four courses, but I’m up to the challenge! Thanks for your patience as I navigate through the blogging waters, I’m still learning how to best project my ideas in this format. Until next time — study hard, and often, I’ll talk with you soon! …that’s how I end each podcast episode